Considerable attention, and rightly so, has focused recently on the war against terrorism. But it would be wrong to conclude that this is the only clear and present danger confronting this nation. The United States faces a large and growing fiscal imbalance that also threatens our economy and way of life.

The United States now has a gross federal debt of around $7 trillion, which works out to about $24,000 for every man, woman and child in this country.

But this number excludes several big-ticket items, including accrued civilian and military retirement benefits, veterans' disability and medical care, environmental clean-up costs and contingencies associated with government agencies and government-sponsored entities.

Most important, it ignores the huge unfunded promises associated with Social Security and Medicare over the next 75 years. If these items are factored in, the burden for every American rises to well over $100,000.

think back. the problem with the economy in 2000 was not that it needed more capital for investors. interest rates were already very low. there was plenty of cheap money for investors. the tax cut proposals of this administration, especially the complete elimination of the estate tax, looked to me like somebody was trying to take the vast profits made since reagan and leave town.

so we had a couple of years of surpluses. so what? 2 out of 30. take the bonus and pay off some debt. then 911 came and instead of saying something has come up we are going to need that money, they just want to put it on the national credit card.

the people that have made fortunes deserve something for their efforts, but they also owe something to this country that provided them with a safe place to do business. not to mention pretty good government contracts in some cases.

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